A Better Pipe Smoking Community

As far as I understand it, both Gawith houses only offer exports twice a year and tobaccos are usually ordered in large quantities to accommodate the market. Once the supply is exhausted, it's gone until the next offering.

but the trend of rising prices and the threat of major tax increases has many pipe smokers, myself included, stocking up. An investment, if you will. Many blends benefit from aging and the Fed is keeping interest rates so low that buying tobacco will not only appreciate in flavor but you will make at least 10% on your investment, judging by how costs have gone up in the last year. Better than keeping your savings in the bank--locally the bank is paying about 2% on CDs....

Anyway, it looks to me like the increased demand has strained some companies.

... so, you should do some stocking up of your favorites. Keep a hedge against the rising prices. Those in the "know" tell me that imports will be slowing down with the onset of the F.T.C.A. implementation. It will take a while but, it will put a tremendous strain on imports and domestic manufacturers. It all depends on how long it takes the Fed's to get implementation. There is a schedule they are following. Four years is the time frame from passage. It will be a difficult and expensive hobby in the years to come. We can only hope it will not result in people abandoning their pipes or we will lose folks like McLelland and Cornell and Diehl. That would be a disaster for many of us.